Yeats, W.B.

4to (11 3/8 by 7 7/8 inches), first edition, one of 70 copies printed on japanese vellum,  unnumbered, title in red, slightly spotted

Wade 114

Condition is described in the main body of the cataloguing, where appropriate.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

This copy is unnumbered. Colin Smythe has found 13 numbered and 7 unnumbered copies of the vellum issue, so that probably more than 70 copies were produced. This copy has no printed slip attached to the title page referring to form, the quarterly periodical, and there is no limitation notice or address on the inside of the front cover, nor are there errata on the inside of the back cover. There is no design by Austin Osman Spare before the title page.

This copy is identical to the advance copy received on February 15, 1916 by the British Museum, presumably to synchronize with the magazine publication of the poems in Poetry in February, 1916, there being 20 unnumbered pages rather than 24. Yeats wrote on another such copy in his own library, "This pamphlet was brought out by a magazine called 'Form' to save my copyright as the poems were being published in America & the magazine was delayed.  Yeats disliked the picture--see next lot--("The red lady is a brute.") and the publication: on Quinn's copy he wrote..."If you want to reproduce a poem you should print it not WRITE it, and if you do write it you should not break your lines. W. B. Yeats. April 2, 1916." Yeats had taken steps to stop the publication, but was persuaded by a friend (probably Charles Ricketts) to let it go. The poems are: The Dawn, On Woman, The Fisherman, The Hawk, Memory, The Thorn Tree, The Phoenix, and There is a Queen in China.